


Five Fourths and One Fifth

by Star_Going_Supernova



Category: Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe, Dadzilla, Fireworks, Fluff, Fourth of July, Gen, Momthra, No Plot/Plotless, lots and lots of fireworks, see the summary for the list of AUs, was this just an excuse to gather up a bunch of different dadzillas? you can't prove anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Going_Supernova/pseuds/Star_Going_Supernova
Summary: Five AUs Where Maddie Celebrated the Fourth of July, and One Where She Didn’t(ft. teeny tiny murder machines AU, human!titans AU, second dad AU, big brother AU, little light AU, and wtwta AU)
Relationships: Andrew Russell & Madison Russell, Godzilla (Legendary | MonsterVerse) & Madison Russell, King Ghidorah & Madison Russell, Madison Russell & Mark Russell, Mothra & Madison Russell
Comments: 16
Kudos: 75





	Five Fourths and One Fifth

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bonus story for the week, because why not! The list in the summary is the order the AUs go in, in case you don't recognize any. 
> 
> Anyway, merry fourth of july and I hope y’all enjoy! 🎆🎆🎆

• **1** •

Maddie kicked her bare feet in the water below the dock as she chased a drip of melting popsicle down her fingers. Bright colors reflected off the ocean in front of her, the Fourth of July fireworks having just gotten started. She was more focused on her rapidly melting treat, to be honest.

A low rumble from beside her made her glance over at Godzilla. “Oh, oops,” she said. Her other hand had drifted away from him, taking the popsicle she was holding for him out of his reach. “Sorry ’bout that.”

He wiggled and almost delicately bit off the end. It was criminal, in Maddie’s opinion, that they lived somewhere where they didn’t get snow in winter. With a few exceptions, the Titans enjoyed crunching ice, and she had a feeling they’d love catching and eating snowballs and icicles.

Oh well. Popsicles would have to do.

A particularly loud series of thunderous pops drew Maddie’s eyes upward. One of her favorite firework types exploded above them, tracing silvery-gold streams against the darkening sky, like a willow tree’s waving branches. Little bursts of red went off above it.

Maddie smiled. Even though it felt like once you’d seen one fireworks show, you’d seen them all, she couldn’t deny that it was still cool to watch.

“I’ve always wanted to stand in the middle of one,” she said absently. Godzilla paused before he could take another bite and looked up as well. He snorted.

“’Cause it’s 3-D, right? So you could stand right in the middle of this great big ball of light shooting out away from you. It’d be gone so quickly, though. Ooh, can you imagine pausing it and then walking around inside all the sparks?” She glanced over at him. “Don’t eat the stick.”

She ended up tipping the rest of the popsicle into his mouth so he didn’t have to try and eat around the wooden stick without nicking her fingers. He happily crunched at it until it melted entirely.

Maddie finished her own before he could start eyeing it. A bright blue firework went off above them. She grinned. It was almost the same color as Godzilla’s atomic breath.

With all the chest-pounding noise, it was no wonder she didn’t realize Mothra had joined them until she was landing in Maddie’s lap.

“You guys haven’t seen fireworks before, right?” she asked, scratching at the fluff around Mothra’s neck. The way all the bits of color were reflected on the ocean’s rippling surface was almost better than the fireworks themselves. “How do you like them?”

Godzilla roared softly and settled in at her side, staring upward with genuine interest.

Mothra, on the other hand, leaned up a bit and spread her wings wide, flaring them with a brief burst of light.

“Are you challenging the barge?” Maddie asked, laughing. “I think you’re challenging the barge.”

With a trill, Mothra flapped her wings once.

“I’d say you would win that one. No competition.”

Mothra relaxed again with a chirp.

Maddie leaned back on her hands, finally devoting her attention to the show. There was still a ways to go before the finale, she was pretty sure. Not that she minded, though she was admittedly looking forward to going home to sleep. The little barbecue party Monarch had organized had been fun, but she was drained.

Judging by the relative quiet behind her, she would guess that most, if not all, of the attendees had settled down on their blankets and in their foldable chairs to enjoy the chance to wind down.

She’d bet there was at least one Titan raiding the unattended food right now. But if she didn’t turn back to look, then she could claim plausible deniability and total innocence if something happened. If all the hot dogs went missing, how would she know who took them? She’d been out on the dock the whole time.

An upside-down smile face exploded in the middle of a green ring of sparks, quickly followed by a lopsided red heart. Maybe someday they could figure out how to make fireworks in the shapes of Titans. Now _that_ would be pretty cool.

• **2** •

Maddie cackled with laughter as one of fireworks they’d set up tipped over and shot off horizontally, whizzing past Godzilla to explode just past the edge of Castle Bravo. Mothra sounded like she was choking on laughter, even as she covered her mouth.

“ _Please_ be careful,” Mothra called over to Godzilla, who was checking his pants for sparks.

Dr. Stanton looked like he was having a blast as he and Barnes lugged over a few more boxes to the center of the platform.

“We’re probably lucky they didn’t pick up any Roman candles,” Maddie said. “I’m not sure who would enjoy those more, Godzilla or G-team.”

“Roman candles?”

“Yeah, you hold onto them and fireworks shoot out. There are all sorts of videos of people aiming them at each other.”

Mothra was silent for a moment. Across the platform, Godzilla gleefully struck a match, and as soon as the fuse was lit, all three men—well, two men and a Titan in human form—scattered.

“Maddie,” she said, only to pause for the fireworks to go off. None of these ones tipped over, so they shrieked and whistled harmlessly into the sky. As soon as the ringing in their ears faded a little bit, she continued, “I would consider it a great personal favor if you never mention Roman candles to Godzilla.”

She laughed. “Yeah, no, we’ll stick to laser tag for catharsis. My lips are sealed, Mothra, promise. The only reason Dr. Stanton probably hasn’t already told him about them is ’cause he’s smart enough to know that couldn’t possibly end well.”

“And G-team?”

“Well,” Maddie said. She watched a small army of humans set up an unwise tower of recreational explosives. “It’s probably safe to say it just hasn’t occurred to them yet.”

Mothra sighed.

Godzilla’s bellowing, slightly insane-sounding laughter almost drowned out the shouts from G-team as he prematurely lit the fuse.

“This was such a good idea,” Maddie said delightedly as people scrambled out of the line of fire. “Best Fourth of July ever.”

An absolute cacophony of thundering booms rattled her bones. It felt like they were setting a new heartbeat in her chest.

“Your father was wise to stay downstairs,” Mothra said faintly once the worst had passed. The fireworks were still going off.

“Oh, he would’ve had a heart attack by now if he’d stayed,” she agreed. “Not gonna lie, I kinda wish I had a Roman candle right now.”

“ _Maddie,_ ” Mothra chided, which was rendered ineffectual by the way she started laughing. “Oh all right, it would be rather funny if _we_ were armed and _they_ were not.”

“Next year,” Maddie promised.

• **3** • 

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Maddie was going to enjoy every second of it. The likelihood of her dad ever agreeing to this again was slim and none, mostly because he’d sworn that he’d do it just this once.

Not that she wouldn’t try again next year.

Godzilla had been more than cooperative—it’d even been his suggestion—because he did quite enjoy being able to do something Mark Russell simply couldn’t. They were both utterly ridiculous sometimes, but if this was the outcome, Maddie could deal with their antics.

When else would she be able to watch fireworks from Godzilla’s head with her dad sitting right next to her? Monarch had arranged for a special show just for Castle Bravo, and behind them, the rooftop platform was covered in people enjoying the result. Maddie’d never seen more than one barge be used for fireworks in person, so it was especially cool.

Her dad, once he’d finally stopped being tense, seemed to be having a good time too. He was convinced Godzilla would toss them into the water, so he had refused to bring anything that shouldn't get wet with them.

Maddie wasn’t about to tell him that she and Godzilla had decided early on to do some night swimming once the fireworks were over. So yeah, they were definitely going to end up in the ocean soon.

The three barges simultaneously released massive, fountain-esque streams of white sparks into the air. It brightened up the night enough for her to see the content look on her dad’s face. She pressed harder against him where she had already been leaning. He glanced down at her.

“Not nearly as torturous as you thought?” Maddie asked hopefully.

He sighed, though the smile didn’t fade. “No. You win this one, kiddo.” He patted Godzilla’s head. “Not bad at all.”

They both felt Godzilla’s answering rumble.

“I’m glad,” she said, turning back to the fireworks. Her dad wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

(As soon as the last firework of the finale faded away, Godzilla’s spines lit up and he ominously began to sink straight down, letting the water slowly approach the two humans on top of him. Maddie laughed as her dad groaned and grumbled, especially when he realized she’d been in on it.

Even Mark had to admit, by the time they climbed the spiral staircase back into the base, that night swimming was more fun than he’d expected. Maddie sneakily sent Godzilla an enthusiastic double-thumbs-up before following her dad inside. His roaring laughter shook the base.)

• **4** •

“If I hear anything about you two poking each other, that’s it for sparklers,” Dad said as he held his lighter over the ends of their sparkler sticks. “And the only way you can get another is if you bring back your old one, so no dropping them in the grass.”

“We know, we know,” Andrew said, bouncing lightly.

Maddie nodded and adjusted her grip so her fingers were at the very bottom of the metal. “Same rules as last year.”

Dad rolled his eyes, but with the sparklers hissing, neither Maddie nor Andrew stuck around to get another lecture. She followed after her brother as they ran around the open grassy area surrounded by cars and other families.

In the space left for children to play before the fireworks started, some were flinging a giant fabric frisbee between them, others had sparklers like her and Andrew, and a group of older kids were pelting each other with bang snaps.

As it slowly got darker, they kept going back to Mom and Dad for more sparklers, using them to quickly write messages in the air to each other,and eventually, they were allowed to crack their glow sticks. With necklaces and bracelets and make-shift crowns, they joined some other kids in playing glow-in-the-dark tag.

When the first firework went off, they all scattered back to their families. Maddie dropped onto their blanket beside Andrew. Mom passed her two cans of lemonade from their cooler, and Dad handed a tupperware full of M&M pretzel kisses to Andrew.

The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed during the show, and at the end, once the thundering finale had trailed off into smokey silence, the fields beside the bay were filled with cheering and clapping and blaring car horns.

Maddie rubbed her eyes as she climbed back into the car. It’d be a long wait before they could even get on the road, and she was tired.

“Anyone get bit?” Mom asked.

Andrew examined his legs for mosquito bites. He groaned. “Two.”

“Three,” Dad grumbled, itching at his arm.

“Maddie?” Mom asked.

“Dunno,” she yawned.

Mom and Dad chuckled. “We’ve got a ways to go before we’re home, kiddo,” Dad said. “You might as well take a little nap.”

After moving her crowns to her neck, she leaned her head against her seatbelt and closed her eyes. A song played softly on the radio and her family’s voices gradually faded away as she fell asleep.

• **5** •

Given the seemingly mutual agreement to mostly avoid one another, Maddie was pretty impressed by their ability to work together when they really wanted to. Ghidorah had seemed interested, Kevin more so than the other two, in the video she’d shown him of Fourth of July fireworks, so she supposed she only had herself to blame—or thank, possibly—for this.

The shiny idiot still didn’t quite understand that he didn’t need to kidnap her to take her places. She was fairly certain she had Mothra to thank for finally beating it into him that picking her up in his mouth was highly unpleasant. So it could’ve been worse.

However, Maddie had exactly no idea as to where they were right now, and she had been only more bewildered at seeing Ghidorah, Godzilla, and Mothra all together in one place. And there hadn’t even been any biting. Yet. Hey, the night was young and she could only be so optimistic.

Luckily, biting seemed to be the last thing on any of their minds as they put on a light show that was actually very impressive, if you asked her. Gold and blue mixed well together, and there was something truly awesome about seeing a pure beam of blue destructive power shoot straight up into the sky, while golden electricity crackled up and down it like a living thing.

Mothra proved capable of directing the light from her wings depending on how she moved them, and they gave off a spotlight-esque effect, multiple beams trailing through the sky to join into one bright burst of light.

She wasn’t sure how long they went, but she was thoroughly dazzled by the end, not to mention she could practically taste the static from so much electricity and radiation-based powers humming in the air.

Maddie whooped and cheered and clapped hard enough to make her hands hurt, trying to make up for being their only audience member. Ghidorah slinked over and Kevin zipped down, apparently in search of approval, given the crooning whine coming from his throat.

“That was amazing!” she told him as she scratched at his snout. The other two heads were quick to join him, pushing and shoving each other to be pet.

She dared lift a hand—one of Ghidorah’s heads warbled sadly at the loss—to wave over at Mothra and Godzilla, who snorted in clear amusement. Maddie laughed herself and went back to using both hands.

“You guys really did do a fantastic job.” She raised her voice, hoping it carried. “All of you did! Thank you for the show! I’m honored to have seen it.”

Mothra trilled and alighted on Godzilla’s head as he turned toward the nearby ocean. He roared a farewell, and it didn’t escape Maddie’s notice that his tail lightly thwapped Ghidorah’s back. The middle head shot up to hiss at Godzilla, and the other two took advantage of his departure to crowd closer to Maddie.

She laughed again. “So impatient,” she teased. “I’m not going anywhere, you doofuses. You guys were definitely better than any normal firework show I’ve seen.”

As the middle head returned, they all preened at the praise.

Maddie knew she probably wouldn’t make it back home until morning, if only because Ghidorah knew by now that her diet and his didn’t match, and he wouldn’t want to make her go hunger. She didn’t even mind missing tonight’s fireworks with her dad and their friends from Castle Bravo. Like she said, this had been _way_ better.

• **+1** • 

“What do you _mean,_ ‘all down my back’?” Maddie demanded, twisting this way and that in a futile attempt to peer over her shoulders. Her shirt sat in a heap on the floor of their nest in front of her. If she craned her neck just the right way, she could sorta see a faint impression of blue on her shoulder blades.

_Exactly that, Pup. The freckles have spread all down your back. They’re mostly clustered along your spine, and they’re much more scattered as they get further away._

“And they’re all blue?”

 _Yes. And, ah…_ The way he trailed off was highly disconcerting.

“Oh gosh. What?”

 _Did they always glow?_ Godzilla asked.

Maddie let her head fall back with a little dismayed sound. She stared up at the night sky, at the moon hanging far above them, at the stars filling in the dark expanse. As loudly as she could, she sighed, making sure her shoulders heaved appropriately.

Godzilla chuckled. _I’ll take that as a no._

“They’re seriously glowing, though?” The ones on the tops of her shoulders weren’t, and though she couldn’t see the ones on her cheeks, she was pretty sure she would’ve noticed if they’d started giving off light right below her eyes.

 _Not_ ** _all_** _of them,_ he said. _Only the ones at the bottom, and—hm. Actually, it seems to be spreading upward. The glow, that is._

“Oh, of course it is. But, like. Fast?”

 _I would guess another day or so before all of your freckles are affected._ He rumbled, and she recognized it as the one that was both humorous and pleased.

Maddie twisted to glare at him a little. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

 _Mmm,_ he grumbled happily. _It’s the closest you could likely get to having something with a similar appearance to my spines. The effect is much the same, I think—or it will be, once they’re all lit up._

And, okay. She couldn’t deny that she liked the sound of that. “Really?” she asked hopefully, trying once more to see for herself.

He leaned forward and nudged her. _Yes, really,_ he said, laughing. _But it’s late, and we should both be sleeping._

“Spoilsport,” Maddie muttered as she snatched up her shirt and stood. She dropped it into the bag of clothes Godzilla had stolen from _somewhere_ —he was still tight-lipped about it—and picked up the shirt she liked sleeping in. It was big and baggy and soft, with loose sleeves that went down to her elbows. Perfect for the slight drop of temperature at night.

Having already drawn the tally mark for the day, Maddie glanced at her makeshift calendar. They were in early July by her count. Any day now, the sea turtle eggs along the western beach should start hatching.

She yawned as she left the wall and returned to Godzilla. _See,_ he said. _It’s long past your bedtime._

To Maddie’s great amusement, he then yawned himself, his jaw stretching wide open and showing off all his teeth. “I’m pretty sure old people need more sleep than kids,” she said as innocently as possible as she lay down and made herself comfortable.

 _Brat,_ he muttered fondly.

Maddie smiled to herself. “Goodnight, G.”

_Goodnight, Pup._

**Author's Note:**

> i'll edit this later. love y'all, hope you're all staying safe, ❤️🎆❤️🎆❤️
> 
> • [my tumblr](https://star-going-supernova.tumblr.com) •


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